Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Hollywood is Hard on Pretty Actresses

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/04/charlize-theron-beauty

I recently saw this published Vanity Fair article and thought it related class, particularly when we discussed how women are often not given deep, gritty roles in movies or TV. In this article, Charlize Theron explains how Hollywood often treats her unfairly because she is both a women and pretty. She explains that she constantly gets turned down for being a beautiful women because directors don't think she looks the part of a gritty, meaty character. She often is in roles that are below her skill level. Charlize has however won an Oscar for a staring role in the movie Monster, which she was cast by a female director.

Charlize also said “We live in a society where women wilt and men age like fine wine. And, for a long time, women accepted it. We were waiting for society to change, but now we’re taking leadership. It would be a lie to say there is less worry for women as they get older than there is for men. . . . It feels there’s this unrealistic standard of what a woman is supposed to look like when she’s over 40.” She explains how Hollywood and society set unrealistic standards that limit women's careers as they get older and it can be a struggle no matter how talented the actress is.

I thought this was an interesting read from a women who we would all deem successful on gender issues that affect her career.

1 comment:

This reminds me of a film I watched in one of my classes a few weeks ago. It is called Miss Representation. The film covers many, many issues that plague women and girls in society today. One of those issues was how Hollywood treats women. Similar to how Theron said “women wilt and men age like fine wine,” there are some actresses in the film who explain the expectations for them to get face lifts or other procedures as they age. One actress said they she had earned a role in a series, but then got a call from her agent asking her to get Botox. Of course, she did, because she wanted job security, but she didn’t want to and she shouldn’t have had to. People criticize women actresses for getting face lifts, but that’s what Hollywood expects them to do. No male actor would ever be asked to get Botox by his agent.

Related things the film covered include how female journalists are expected to dress when on news stations. They can be criticized for being too conservative and they can be criticized for not being conservative enough. If a person is watching the news, they should be paying attention to what the women anchor is saying, not what she is wearing. In addition, it talked about how female politicians are always criticized for their clothing choices and how they act. If they act confident and powerful, they are a bitch. If they act ladylike, they are a ditz.

I believe the film can be streamed for free through the TCU library.

Another video I have seen that this article reminded me of is a lot less serious, but it is funny. It’s from Inside Amy Schumer and it’s kind of crude, but it satirically talks about actresses aging:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpsI8mWKmg